Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A data storage and retrieval system stored on a computer readable memory in a computer system having at least one processor, comprising: a plurality of information items, each of said information items including at least one property; a plurality of intensional category definitions operable to provide dynamic categorization of said plurality of information items, wherein each of said intensional information item category definitions includes a predicate, wherein said predicate is operable to identify an input one of said information items as a member of a category based on said at least one property in said input one of said information items, wherein said category definitions are stored separately from said information items, and wherein said category definitions maintain no references to any one of said information items; an information item and category interface operable to receive a new information item and dynamically add said information item to said plurality of information items, wherein said new information item is dynamically created independently from creating or modifying any of said plurality of intensional category definitions, receive a new intensional category definition and dynamically add said new intensional category definition to said plurality of intensional category definitions, wherein said new intensional category definition is created independent from and without creating or modifying any of said plurality of information items, and receive a modification to an existing one of said plurality of information items and dynamically modify said one of said plurality of information items, wherein said modification is performed independent from and without creating or modifying any of said plurality of intensional category definitions; categorization logic operable to categorize said plurality of information items using said intensional category definitions, including said new intensional category definition, to populate at least one pre-computed category membership data structure to support efficient processing of at least one query, independent from creating or modifying any of said plurality of information items, wherein said categorization of said plurality of information items using said intensional category definitions including said new intensional category definition results in at least one of said plurality of information items existing prior to creation of said new intentional category definition participating in a category defined by said new intensional category definition; and an information item retrieval graphical user interface operable to receive said at least one input query from a user, wherein said input query indicates a subset of said plurality of information items by identification of at least one of said intensional category definitions.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein said at least one pre-computed category membership data structure is used to process said at least one query.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of said information item categories is operable to apply its associated predicate to at least one of said information items responsive to said information item being created.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of said information item categories is operable to apply its associated predicate to at least one of said information items responsive to said information item being modified.
5. The system of claim 4 , wherein said modification to said at least one existing information item comprises addition of a new property to said information item.
6. The system of claim 4 , wherein said modification to said at least one existing information item comprises changing a value of a property of said information item.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein said predicate for at least one of said information item categories is operable to test an input information item for the existence of a predetermined property, and in the event that said input information item includes said predetermined property, generate an indication that said input information item is associated with said one of said information item categories.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein said information items comprise personal information.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein each of said information items comprise at least one personal information property.
10. The system of claim 8 , wherein said personal information comprises contact information.
11. The system of claim 9 , wherein said personal information property has a value comprising at least one postal address.
12. The system of claim 9 , wherein said personal information property has a value comprising at least one telephone number.
13. The system of claim 9 , wherein said personal information property has a value comprising at least one name of a person.
14. The system of claim 9 , wherein said personal information property has a value comprising a description of a personal activity.
15. The system of claim 9 , wherein said personal information property has a value comprising a description of an appointment.
16. The system of claim 9 , wherein said personal information property has a value comprising at least one electronic mail address.
17. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of said information item categories is configured as a synchronous category, such that all item modification operations to items associated with said synchronous one of said information item categories are reflected in the results of all information retrieval operations received subsequent to receipt said item modification operations and referring to said synchronous one of said information item categories.
18. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of said information item categories is configured as an asynchronous category, such that item modification operations to items associated with said asynchronous one of said information item categories need not be reflected in the results of information retrieval operations received subsequent to receipt of said item modification operations and referring to said asynchronous one of said information item categories.
19. A method for providing a data storage and retrieval system, comprising: storing a plurality of information items, each of said information items including at least one property; storing a plurality of intensional category definitions operable to provide dynamic categorization of said plurality of information items, wherein each of said intensional information item category definitions includes a predicate, wherein said predicate is operable to identify an input one of said information items as a member of a category based on said at least one property in said input one of said information items, wherein said category definitions are stored separately from any one of said information items, and wherein said category definitions maintain no references to any one of said information items; operating in response to an information item and category interface to receive a new information item and dynamically add said information item to said plurality of information items, wherein said new information is dynamically created independently from creating or modifying any of said plurality of intensional category definitions, receive a new intensional category definition, and dynamically add said new intensional category definition to said plurality of intensional category definitions, wherein said new intensional category definition is created independent from and without creating or modifying any of said plurality of information items, and receive a modification to an existing one of said plurality of information items and dynamically modify said one of said plurality of information items, wherein said modification is performed independent from and without creating or modifying any of said plurality of intensional category definitions; categorizing said plurality of information items using said intensional category definitions, including said new intensional category definition, to populate at least one pre-computed category membership data structure to support efficient processing of at least one query, independent from creating or modifying any of said plurality of information items, wherein said categorizing said plurality of information items using said intensional category definitions including said new intensional category definition results in at least one of said plurality of information items existing prior to creation of said new intentional category definition participating in a category defined by said new intensional category definition; and operating in response to an information item retrieval interface to receive at least one input query, wherein said input query indicates a subset of said plurality of information items by identification of at least one of said intensional category definitions.
20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising using said pre-computed category membership data structure to process said at least one query.
21. The method of claim 19 , wherein each of said information item categories applies its associated predicate to at least one of said information items responsive to said information item being created.
22. The method of claim 19 , wherein each of said information item categories is operable to apply its associated predicate to at least one of said information items responsive to said information item being modified.
23. The method of claim 22 , wherein said modification to said at least one existing information item comprises addition of a new property to said information item.
24. The method of claim 22 , wherein said modification to said at least one existing information item comprises changing a value of a property of said information item.
25. The method of claim 19 , wherein said predicate for at least one of said information item categories is operable to test an input information item for the existence of a predetermined property, and in the event that said input information item includes said predetermined property, generate an indication that said input information item is associated with said one of said information item categories.
26. The method of claim 19 , wherein said information items comprise personal information.
27. The method of claim 26 , wherein each of said information items comprise at least one personal information property.
28. The method of claim 26 , wherein said personal information comprises contact information.
29. The method of claim 27 , wherein said personal information property has a value comprising at least one postal address.
30. The method of claim 27 , wherein said personal information property has a value comprising at least one telephone number.
31. The method of claim 27 , wherein said personal information property has a value comprising at least one name of a person.
32. The method of claim 27 , wherein said personal information property has a value comprising a description of a personal activity.
33. The method of claim 27 , wherein said personal information property has a value comprising a description of an appointment.
34. The method of claim 27 , wherein said personal information property has a value comprising at least one electronic mail address.
35. The method of claim 19 , further comprising: configuring at least one of said information item categories as a synchronous category; and processing item modification operations to items associated with said synchronous one of said information item categories are reflected in the results of all information retrieval operations received subsequent to receipt said item modification operations and referring to said synchronous one of said information item categories.
36. The method of claim 19 , further comprising: configuring at least one of said information item categories as an asynchronous category; and processing item modification operations to items associated with said asynchronous one of said information item categories are not be reflected in the results of at least one information retrieval operation received subsequent to receipt of said item modification operations and referring to said asynchronous one of said information item categories.
37. A computer program product including a computer readable storage medium, said computer readable storage medium having a computer program executed by at least one processor for providing a data storage and retrieval system stored thereon, said computer program comprising: program code for storing a plurality of information items, each of said information items including at least one property; program code for storing a plurality of intensional category definitions operable to provide dynamic categorization of said plurality of information items, wherein each of said intensional information item category definitions includes a predicate, wherein said predicate is operable to identify an input one of said information items as a member of a category based on said at least one property in said input one of said information items, wherein said category definitions are stored separately from said information items, and wherein said category definitions maintain no references to any one of said information items; program code for operating in response to an information item and category interface to receive a new information item and dynamically add said information item to said plurality of information items independently from creating or modifying any of said plurality of information items, receive a new intensional category definition and dynamically add said new intensional category definition to said plurality of intensional category definitions, wherein said new intensional category definition is created independent from and without creating or modifying any of said plurality of information items, and receive a modification to an existing one of said plurality of information items and dynamically modify said one of said plurality of information items, wherein said modification is performed independent from and without creating or modifying any of said intensional category definitions; program code for categorizing said plurality of information items using said intensional category definitions, including said new intensional category definition, to populate at least one pre-computed category membership data structure to support efficient processing of at least one query, independent from creating or modifying any of said plurality of information items, wherein said categorizing said plurality of information items using said intensional category definitions including said new intensional category definition results in at least one of said plurality of information items existing prior to creation of said new intentional category definition participating in a category defined by said new intensional category definition; and program code for operating in response to an information item retrieval interface to receive at least one input query, wherein said input query indicates a subset of said plurality of information items by identification of at least one of said intensional category definitions.
38. A computer system having at least one processor and memory for storing program code executable on said at least one processor, said memory having stored thereon program code for data storage and retrieval, comprising: means for storing a plurality of information items, each of said information items including at least one property; means for storing a plurality of intensional category definitions operable to provide dynamic categorization of said plurality of information items, wherein each of said intensional information item category definitions includes a predicate, wherein said predicate is operable to identify an input one of said information items as a member of a category based on said at least one property in said input one of said information items, wherein said category definitions are stored separately from said information items, and wherein said category definitions maintain no references to any one of said information items; means for operating in response to an information item and category interface to receive a new information item and dynamically add said information item to said plurality of information items, wherein said new information item is dynamically created independently from creating or modifying any of said plurality of intensional category definitions, receive a new intensional category definition and dynamically add said new intensional category definition to said plurality of intensional category definitions, wherein said new intensional category definition is created independent from and without creating or modifying any of said plurality of information items, and receive a modification to an existing one of said plurality of information items and dynamically modify said one of said plurality of information items, wherein said modification is performed independent from and without creating or modifying any of said plurality of intensional category definitions; means for categorizing said plurality of information items using said intensional category definitions, including said new intensional category definition, to populate at least one pre-computed category membership data structure to support efficient processing of at least one query, independent from creating or modifying any of said plurality of information items, wherein said categorizing said plurality of information items using said intensional category definitions including said new intensional category definition results in at least one of said plurality of information items existing prior to creation of said new intentional category definition participating in a category defined by said new intensional category definition; and means for generating and operating in response to an information item retrieval graphical user interface to receive at least one input query from a user, wherein said input query indicates a subset of said plurality of information items by identification of at least one of said intensional category definitions.
39. A method for providing a data storage and retrieval system, comprising: storing a plurality of information items, each of said information items including at least one property; storing a plurality of intensional category definitions operable to provide dynamic categorization of said plurality of information items, wherein each of said intensional information item category definitions includes a predicate, wherein said predicate is operable to identify an input one of said information items as a member of a category based on said at least one property in said input one of said information items, wherein said category definitions are stored separately from any one of said information items, and wherein said category definitions maintain no references to any one of said information items; operating in response to an information item and category interface to receive a new information item and dynamically add said information item to said plurality of information items, wherein said new information is dynamically created independently from creating or modifying any of said plurality of intensional category definitions, receive a new intensional category definition, and dynamically add said new intensional category definition to said plurality of intensional category definitions, wherein said new intensional category definition is created independent from and without creating or modifying any of said plurality of information items, and receive a modification to an existing one of said plurality of information items and dynamically modify said one of said plurality of information items, wherein said modification is dynamically performed independently from creating or modifying any of said plurality of intensional category definitions; categorizing said plurality of information items using said intensional category definitions to populate at least one pre-computed category membership data structure to support efficient processing of at least one query, independent from creating or modifying any of said plurality of information items, wherein said categorizing said plurality of information items using said intensional category definitions including said new intensional category definition results in said new information item participating in at least one of said categories defined by said plurality of intensional category definitions; and operating in response to an information item retrieval interface to receive at least one input query, wherein said input query indicates a subset of said plurality of information items by identification of at least one of said intensional category definitions.
40. A method for providing a data storage and retrieval system, comprising: storing a plurality of information items, each of said information items including at least one property; storing a plurality of intensional category definitions operable to provide dynamic categorization of said plurality of information items, wherein each of said intensional information item category definitions includes a predicate, wherein said predicate is operable to identify an input one of said information items as a member of a category based on said at least one property in said input one of said information items, wherein said category definitions are stored separately from said information items, and wherein said category definitions maintain no references to any one of said information items; operating in response to an information item and category interface to receive a new information item and dynamically add said information item to said plurality of information items, wherein said new information is dynamically created independently from creating or modifying any of said plurality of intensional category definitions, receive a new intensional category definition, and dynamically add said new intensional category definition to said plurality of intensional category definitions, wherein said new intensional category definition is created independent from and without creating or modifying any of said plurality of information items, and receive a modification to an existing one of said plurality of information items and dynamically modify said one of said plurality of information items, wherein said modification is performed independent from and without creating or modifying any of said plurality of intensional category definitions; categorizing said plurality of information items using said intensional category definitions to populate at least one pre-computed category membership data structure to support efficient processing of at least one query, independent from creating or modifying any of said plurality of information items, wherein said categorizing said plurality of information items using said intensional category definitions including said new intensional category definition results in said modified information item participating in at least one of said categories defined by said plurality of intensional category definitions; and operating in response to an information item retrieval interface to receive at least one input query, wherein said input query indicates a subset of said plurality of information items by identification of at least one of said intensional category definitions.
Unknown
August 12, 2008
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